Microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi and the like are virtually ubiquitous in the biosphere and while most are harmless, many have the capacity to infect humans, plants and animals while still others can cause spoilage of valuable foodstuffs and other materials. Accordingly, there exists a pressing, ongoing need to control, if not eliminate, unwanted microorganisms from a wide variety of surfaces. One of the most common methods of disinfecting or sterilizing surfaces is the use of heat, especially wet heat in the form of high pressure steam. Unfortunately, these methods do not work well with materials that are heat and/or water labile and oftentimes it is difficult if not impossible to employ these methods in situ.
For heat and/or moisture sensitive materials, alternatives to dry heat and/or steam must be used to control the biological contamination of these materials. Some of these alternatives include, but are not limited to, irradiation, exposure to toxic gases (for example, ethylene oxide, chlorine dioxide, or ozone), ultraviolet radiation, or treatment with chemical bactericides, fungicides and the like. Many of these methods are difficult to use with various articles of manufacture so there remains a need for new materials and methods for controlling microbial contamination on surfaces and articles. Some aspects of the instant invention address these needs.